


goodbye.

by sunset_madi



Series: alex mercer and julie molina besties era [4]
Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV 2020)
Genre: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina are Best Friends, Alex Mercer Has A Sibling (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer Has Bad Parents (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer Needs a Hug (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer's Parents Are Homophobic (Julie and The Phantoms), Alex Mercer-centric (Julie and The Phantoms), Gay Alex Mercer (Julie and The Phantoms), Good Friend Julie Molina
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-01
Updated: 2021-03-01
Packaged: 2021-03-13 13:14:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29776692
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunset_madi/pseuds/sunset_madi
Summary: Alex and Julie stood outside the house. Julie's hand hovered over the doorbell."Well?" she glanced at him. "It's up to you. What now?"orAlex goes to see his parents.Takes place after "jujubes."
Relationships: Alex Mercer & Julie Molina (platonic)
Series: alex mercer and julie molina besties era [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2180388
Comments: 4
Kudos: 55





	goodbye.

**Author's Note:**

> sorry this took longer than i usually do. i think there are going to be times where i update everyday but that wont be all the time. 
> 
> i noticed that the first part of this series got a lot more attention, which i find weird bc when i wrote that, no one had read my work before and i hadnt promoted it anywhere. not complaining, obviously. just thought that was interesting
> 
> please send me prompts im running out of ideas lmao
> 
> if i write a one shot based on your prompt, i'll gift it to you.

"You know you'll have to eventually."

"I know, but it's hard. And I don't think it's ever going to get easier."

"Look, you need time. I get that. But, no. It's not going to get easier if you just sit there and don't do anything about it."

"I know."

"But?"

"I don't want to."

"You don't want to right now."

"No. I don't want to. Ever."

Julie sat up and gaped at him. "Seriously? We're going from baby steps to fetus steps."

"Fetuses don't walk. Fetuses don't do anything."

"Exactly."

Alex sighed. "I thought it was like... I don't know. The whole reason I thought I could see them again was because I wanted to see if there was a possibility they could have changed. But then meeting Mike was basically confirmation that they hadn't."

"Yeah, okay. I see where you're coming from. I do. But also, Mike hasn't seen them in what? 16 years?"

"There's probably a reason for that. They had a son. They messed up with him and they never got to fix it. They had another chance with their second son. They blew it. If they wanted to fix it with Mike, they would have by now. But they haven't. It wouldn't be any different with me."

"Okay, yeah. I see your point. It's really shi-"

"Don't curse. You're underage."

"I'm underage," Julie deadpanned.

"Yes."

"For cursing."

"Mhmm."

"So, how old do I have to be before I can start swearing?"

"At least 27."

"27."

"Yup."

"I don't remember that part of the constitution."

"It was a recent development."

She laughed. "What do you know about recent developments?"

"Willie's been teaching me."

"I know that constitution thing is a lie, but that's actually really cute."

"Shush."

"I agree. Back to what we were talking about."

He groaned. "Julie, my life was hell because of them. Even before I came out, they said stuff that just scared me. So much. They made me feel like nothing. I don't want to go back to that."

Julie nodded. "You don't want them back, but it has been bothering you that you haven't seen them."

"Yeah, basically."

"Well, maybe that's just what you need to do." she said. "See them."

"But I don't-"

"I know you don't, Lexie. But you need to. It'll give you closure."

"It would be weird. I mean, what would you even say to them?"

"Well, I don't have to come with you if you don't want me to. It's different. Luke had a song he never got to give his parents. You had a brother you never really got to know. Your situation is... messier."

"I don't have anything to say to them."

"Yes, you do. You're not going to enjoy it, but you're going to regret not doing it. Just see them one last time. I'm not telling you to forgive them. I'm telling you that you have to say goodbye."

===

Alex and Julie stood outside the house. Julie's hand hovered over the doorbell.

"Well?" she glanced at him. "It's up to you. What now?"

He hesitated before gently pushing her hand away from the doorbell. "I can do this. On my own."

She nodded. "I'll wait out here."

He stepped through the door. After all these years, they still lived in that house.

That house.

It brought back so many memories. He was sure he'd had some good times there. He must have. It was his childhood home.

But no matter how good those memories were, the only ones coming to mind were those of grief. Pain. Shame. Regret.

He balled his fists. He wasn't going to cry. He could do this.

He began looking around. The TV was playing in the living room. Something called FOX News.

The screen was bigger and flatter than the one in the 90s. It was strange seeing everything after so long.

Not that much had changed. There was new furniture and wallpaper, but everything else was pretty much the same. There was still an American flag on the wall. There were new books on the shelf behind the couch, but of course, the Bible still sat there, next to his dad's signed baseball that he never let anyone touch.

Mike was right.

No, Alex told himself. Not all American Christians are bigots.

But his parents were. 25 years hadn't made much of a difference.

He looked to his left. Two doors that lead to his and his brother's rooms respectively. He tried opening the door to his room. Locked. He poofed in. The lights were off. The windows closed. He flipped a switch and a light in the corner of the room lit up.

The energy of the living room hadn't changed at all. The same couldn't be said about his childhood bedroom. It was... empty. Well, that wasn't entirely true. There were cobwebs. And spiders, of course. There was no carpet on the floor. His bed was gone. He could guess Mike's room looked the same way.

His hands were shaking. He realized he hadn't actually seen them yet. To his dismay, he had to.

As much as he wanted to forget, he knew his way around this house. He walked into the kitchen/dining room. They both had white hair now. They were both sitting at the table across from each other, eating spaghetti in silence and not saying a word. There were only two chairs, both occupied by the two of them.

He remembered walking in on Julie's family eating dinner for the first time. They were eating spaghetti too. There was something he remembered her explaining to him afterward.

Julie's family still put out a chair and plate for her mom.

It's been 25 years, he reminded himself. It's not that deep.

Luke's family still cut a cake for his birthday.

But it wasn't Alex's birthday. Who was to say that his parents never did anything for him after he died?

Julie had told him about the pictures of Luke as a kid she had seen when she went over to Emily and Mitch's house.

There weren't any pictures of Alex. There weren't any pictures of Mike.

He knew that his parents didn't except Alex's sexuality or Mike's gender, but they still cared, right? They were their kids. There was no way they had just stopped loving them.

Yet they had done their best to erase all evidence that they had ever existed.

And it hurt. Tears made their way down his cheeks.

He wasn't sure what to do now. Julie said to say goodbye. He agreed because... he wasn't sure. It sounded right. Like it was something he had to do. But he wasn't sure how to. Did he just say 'Goodbye' and leave? Was he supposed to not say anything at all? He really wished he had asked these questions before he and Julie parted ways.

"Hey, guys. I was in town. Thought I'd stop by."

They didn't respond. Obviously. He didn't know why he was disappointed. He knew they couldn't hear him.

"Well, it's been a while hasn't it? Just thought you'd be interested to know that I didn't go to hell. I'm still here. And I'm happy."

Nothing.

Alex sat on top of the kitchen counter. "I'm actually a lot happier now that I'm not with you. So I should really thank you for kicking me out. Or actually, no. I take that back. That scarred me for life. You just should've been better parents. Then I would be happy and so would you.

"I saw Mike again. Or, I guess, when you guys talk about him, you don't call him by his actual name. Or do you even talk about him at all? Because it really seems like you don't want to remember us." Alex laughed humorlessly. "I really thought that after you lost me for good, maybe you could come around. But that's clearly not the case.

"You know what you are?" He looked at his parents. "You're cowards. You're running away from my memory because it scares you. That's why you pushed me away. And you know what? Fair enough. Because you scared me too. A lot. But the thing is," he jumped off the counter, "I'm not scared anymore. You don't have that power over me. I considered running away from the memories of you the way you ran away from mine. But I'm not a coward."

Then he did something petty.

He leaned over pushed his father's glass over. Water splashed everywhere. His mother yelped. They looked up at each with their mouths open. They might have said something afterwards, but Alex couldn't have cared less.

"Goodbye."

**Author's Note:**

> comments and kudos appreciated! thanks for reading!


End file.
